Anonymous letter accuses Brett Kavanaugh of physically assaulting a woman in 1998, but Senate Judiciary Committee members aren't buying it

The Senate Judiciary Committee is looking into a claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted a fourth woman.

A letter sent to Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner details a 1998 incident in which the writer said Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman while intoxicated in Washington, DC, NBC News reported Wednesday evening.

The revelation comes just hours before Kavanaugh faces the committee to address sexual assault allegations leveled against him by Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor who says Kavanaugh groped her to the point that she thought he would rape her when they were both in high school in the 1980s.

At least two other women have accused Kavanaugh of various forms of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh denies the claims.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is looking into a claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted a fourth woman,NBC News reported on Wednesday citing an anonymous letter and multiple people familiar with the committee’s response.

The letter sent to Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner details a 1998 incident in which the writer said Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman while intoxicated in Washington, DC.

The writer claims that her daughter and several friends of Kavanaugh were present when the alleged assault happened.

“When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol), they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend against the wall very aggressively and sexually,” the letter reads, according to NBC News, which said no names were provided in the letter and claimed the alleged victim chose to remain anonymous.

It was not immediately clear who wrote the anonymous letter.

Images of the document and the envelope addressed to Sen. Gardner were posted online. The envelope was postmarked on September 22 and shows only a city, state, and zip code – Denver, Colorado, 80211 – but no return address.

Judiciary Committee members questioned Kavanaugh about that allegation this week, which Kavanaugh has denied.

“We’re dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person, and anonymous friend,” Kavanaugh reportedly told lawmakers, according to NBC News.

Taylor Foy, a spokesman for committee chairman Chuck Grassley, said there is “no reason to assign the letter credibility.”

A fifth previously unreported accusation surfaced late Wednesday, in which a Rhode Island resident allegedly told Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman the resident described as a “close acquaintance” in August 1985. That alleged incident also occurred while Kavanaugh was intoxicated, the report said.

The new revelations come just hours before Kavanaugh faces the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to address sexual assault allegations leveled against him by Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor who says Kavanaugh groped her to the point that she thought he would rape her when they were both in high school in the 1980s.

At least two other women – Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick have accused Kavanaugh of various forms of misconduct. Kavanaugh has denied those claims as well.